Must We Do This Again? Duck Dynasty Edition

By now you have likely heard that Phil Robertson, star of the Duck Dynasty reality TV show, has been suspended by A&E for making homophobic and racist comments in an interview with GQ. Samantha covers all of this in her blog post, “I used to be a homophobic racist too.” And if you’re like me and you are facebook friends with conservative evangelical or fundamentalist friends or relatives, you  have probably noticed the quick proliferation of defenses of Robertson’s comments. But rather than rehashing that, I want to look for a moment at the statement the Robertson family released.

We want to thank all of you for your prayers and support. The family has spent much time in prayer since learning of A&E’s decision. We want you to know that first and foremost we are a family rooted in our faith in God and our belief that the Bible is His word. While some of Phil’s unfiltered comments to the reporter were coarse, his beliefs are grounded in the teachings of the Bible.

This is the classic “it doesn’t matter if my remarks hurt people because my remarks come from the Bible” defense. This has got to drive gay Christians nuts (given that they disagree with people like Phil on what the Bible actually says), but it also shows an expectation that the Bible will get a pass on issues like this.

Phil is a Godly man who follows what the Bible says are the greatest commandments: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Phil would never incite or encourage hate.

Phil and his family have a very odd definition of the word “love.” Here is the actual quote by Phil in the GQ story that started this hoopla:

“It seems like, to me, a vagina—as a man—would be more desirable than a man’s anus. That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I’m saying? But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical.”

How is this not encouraging hate? I mean, one synonym of hate is loathing, and Phil quite obviously has some of that going on here. I mean, is there any way a gay person could read these words and not feel hated? This man quite clearly thinks gay people are disgusting. That’s not love. That is so, so not love. That is disgust, that is loathing, that is hate. And while we’re at it, let’s mention objectification. And am I the only one who feels objectified by the way Phil talks about vaginas and anuses? It’s as though they’re unattached to actual people. But on a broader level, this fascination with gay sex is also a form of objectification, because it boils gay individuals, with lives, loves, and dreams, down to what they do in the bedroom. And that’s sure not very loving either.

It also seems to me that conservatives mean something very different by the term “homophobia” than liberals do. Conservatives want it to mean something very narrow. If you’re not threatening a gay person’s life, you’re not homophobic. Except that it doesn’t work like that. There seems to be the same thing going on with racism, as I’ve seen people argue Phil’s remarks weren’t racist because he doesn’t have malicious feelings toward black people. Racism pretty clearly means something different to conservatives than it does to liberals. But that’s all the subject of another blog post.

We are disappointed that Phil has been placed on hiatus for expressing his faith, which is his constitutionally protected right.

You know what? Phil exercised his free speech to make homophobic remarks, and A&E exercised its right to suspend him. Freedom of speech is not the same thing as freedom from the consequences of speech. The first amendment protects your speech from government censorship. People can privately censor your speech all they like.

There’s something bigger going on here though. Support for LGBTQ rights has hit the mainstream, and evangelicals and fundamentalists haven’t figured out what to do about that yet. Most of them believe that the Bible condemns “homosexuality” and everything that goes along with it, and many if not most of them also feel some form of visceral disgust for LGBTQ individuals (or, as they’ll argue, for their “lifestyle,” but you can’t bifurcate people like that). But in the mainstream, these beliefs, feelings, and statements are increasingly placed in the same categories as racism, and are increasingly censured. Evangelicals and fundamentalists are in a bit of a bind. They either have to change their views on this topic (which won’t come easily) or they will find themselves viewed by, well, basically everyone else, as bigots. And that bind is making them uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable.

And so, we’ve seen this over and over and we should expect to see it again. We saw it with Chick-fil-A, and now we’re seeing it with Duck Dynasty. Each time it happens, though, the list of supporters will shrink. Oh yes, right now anyone with conservative evangelical or fundamentalist friends sees their facebook feeds full of declarations of support for Phil Robertson. But the next time this happens (and it will), the number of supporters will go down, and the next time down further. The volume may go up to compensate, but I think it’s pretty clear to just about everyone now that the conservatives aren’t going to win this one. I’m sincerely curious how evangelicals and fundamentalists will get out of the bind they’ve put themselves in.